


From the Beginning to the End

by Shane_for_Wax



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-13
Updated: 2016-05-13
Packaged: 2018-06-08 04:07:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6838438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shane_for_Wax/pseuds/Shane_for_Wax
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two very different times in the relationship between Shane and Jack. The first chapter is from the Collector Crisis, the second from post Mass Effect 3.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Either Shut Up or Leave

Shane paced back and forth at the top of the stairs leading to lower engineering. She rubbed her hands along her cheeks, feeling the scars there. Things weren't going as great as she had hoped. Jack and Miranda were often at each others' throats and eventually Shane had to put in a new rule: one deck apart at all times.  

The Commander had spoken to Miranda only an hour earlier. She wasn't going to budge on much of anything. Shepard expected that from the loyalist. 

The Marine had all but given up on trying to wiggle through the cracks in Jack's walls. The ex-convict's mind was locked up tighter than Fort Knox. 

Boots finally took the Commander down the stairs. Lower engineering was decidedly dark but Shane knew it was easy to tell when she had arrived: she glowed like a fucking Christmas tree. She froze as Jack's gaze fell upon her, the light pouring down the staircase reflecting in chocolate eyes. 

"Jack--" the Commander began.

"I have nothin' to say to you, asshole," the biotic quickly cut the woman off. Shane bit back a growl, crossing the distance between the two. She leaned her shoulder up against the wall to her right, folding her arms across her chest. 

"Fine," Shane said. 

" _What?_ " Jack asked, narrowing her eyes. 

"Don't say a word. I don't care anymore. But I'm not leavin'," the Commander clarified. 

"Shit, so you're just gonna stand there?" 

"Yep." 

The answer made Jack pause. The hell was Shepard playing at? What was the point in just standing there? Jack didn't ask, and Shane didn't say anything further. 

Eventually Jack had drawn her legs up to her chest as she sat on her cot while Shane had slowly dropped to the floor, sitting almost Indian style there. Not a single word had been spoken for at least twenty minutes, if not more. Jack kept an eye on the silent Commander, her mind almost frantic in trying to figure out the woman who had traded Alliance blue for Cerberus black and gold. Shepard was an anomaly. And Jack hated being incapable of figuring out motives.

Jack opened her mouth as if to break the silence, contemplated a moment, then shut her mouth with an almost inaudible click of teeth. Shepard didn't move. If it weren't for the glow to the Commander's eyes, Jack might've sworn that Shane had fallen asleep. Then again, perhaps the Marine could sleep with her eyes open. Jack didn't bother testing the theory. 

An hour passed. Then two. Then three... Maybe Shane really had fallen asleep with her eyes open. But Jack wasn't about to fall asleep herself. She shifted slightly, letting out a breath. The silence was neither comfortable nor uncomfortable anymore. It just... was. 

She nearly banged her elbow into the wall behind her out of startlement when she heard Shane's boots scrape on the floor. She turned her head, watching the tall Commander climb to her feet. Jack frowned when Shane made steps to get closer to Jack. She almost snarled out a 'back the fuck up' but it didn't reach her lips as the Commander pulled out a data pad. 

Quietly, Shane dropped it on the cot next to Jack's knee. 

**_I expect nothing more than you are willing to give, Jack. Thank you for letting me dodge work down here. -Shane_ **

Before Jack could reply, the Commander was already halfway up the stairs. 

"... _Asshole._ " Despite her insult, the biotic picked up the datapad, staring at the words for longer than she thought she would. 


	2. Please Stay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Post Mass Effect 3, Destroy Ending, feelings from the Collector days have definitely changed where Shane and Jack are concerned.

Shane's mouth felt like it was full of cotton. Her entire body ached. How long had she been buried under rubble? She had no way of knowing. She couldn't use her omni-tool to tell her.  

Blood caked her face, hell her entire body. She moved slowly, carefully. They hadn't stopped searching for the Commander Shepard, she was glad for that. A dog's snout nudged into her face and she felt its warm tongue against her cheek. She smiled which only caused her to wince. It hurt to move much at all. 

"We've got her," a relieved voice called out. She didn't know who it was. Part of Hammer? Or just a rescue party? Who knew. She didn't, at the least. 

Before she knew what was going on she was being lifted out. She could see the 'corpses' of dead Reapers out the open door of the Kodiak she had been lifted into. A hospital on the outskirts of London took her in. 

She hardly expected any of her crew to be able to make it. Not after she'd ordered them quite clearly to get out of the battle zone. Her head ached and she was damn sure her implants were fried. No biotics for a while. She was okay with that. 

She didn't know what to do. Jack had left. On her orders. But at least Shane had kept her promise. 

Hazel and eyes clenched shut as the memories of the events on the Citadel flooded back to her. Two to the head. Double tap. Nothing more, nothing less. She had been rather cool and collected throughout the entire thing. She could still feel the warmth of the pistol. 

\-----------

Hearing that the Reapers had been defeated should've been cause for celebration for the _Normandy_ crew. In a way, it was. In a way, it wasn't. They had lost their Commander. Or so they had resigned themselves to think. 

Jack wasn't _Normandy_ crew, but she was still there. Her silence was telling. And the look on her face as she waited for news from Earth, about Earth, about  _Shane_.

_I'm going to kill the Reapers, or die trying. Maybe both at the same time. So long as they're gone. So long as nobody has to deal with them again._

It had been a stupid promise. What, did Jack not matter? Whatever happened to 'I'll come back alive no matter what'? Apparently the Commander didn't see things that way. 

Her hands brushed along the hoodie in her lap. The N7 logo was easily seen. Jack bit on her lower lip, shaking her head. She slowly pulled it around her form, but it wasn't the same. Shane wasn't there to tease her about it. 

"Jack? They found her," Joker's voice broke in. That's all she needed to hear. 

\-----------

Shane had been asleep for goddess knows how long. In fact, maybe she still was. It had been at least a day since she'd been found. She hadn't said a word to anyone. What was there to say? Everyone kept congratulating her but she felt absolutely rotten. There were so many things she had meant to say to Jack but hadn't. And now she had no idea where she was. 

A commotion outside her room caused the Commander to jump a bit more badly than she had wanted to, pulling stitches and stretching bruises. It made her hiss in pain but she didn't cry out. What was the point in it all, really? She was alive, that's all that mattered. Well, that and the Reapers were gone. 

"The Commander isn't supposed to have visitors!" the voice of an orderly leaked in through the door. 

"If you let anyone in there you'll let her in," another voice. Shane recognized it easily enough: Ash. "Spectre authority if that'll help." 

The orderly sighed before pushing the door open. Shane didn't open her eyes. She could feel the presence of the other biotic but didn't dare open her eyes. 

"Wake up, jackass," the ex-convict had run out of patience and niceties a long time ago. Shane didn't move. Footsteps as the other woman got closer.

"No, you wake up. I know you can hear me," Jack ground out. She dropped into a chair next to the bed. Shane's fingers twitched slightly before she slid her hand along the bed. Jack said nothing as her fingers, as gently as possible, laced with Shane's. 

"I'm sorry," Shane's voice was soft, broken. Her throat ached. It hurt to say anything. But she was going to. For Jack. She wanted to say all the shit she'd forgotten to. Like 'They won't take me. I won't die again. I'm coming back. For you. Always'. But the words wouldn't come. 

Honestly Shane wouldn't blame the other if she left the room. After all, Jack had trusted Shane probably more than she should've. Or... this could all be an elaborate dream. Maybe Shane had never woken up. Maybe her mind just wanted Jack there so it happened. It wasn't uncommon to dream of loved ones. 

Maybe this was a clever Indoctrination ruse of some kind. Breaking her down little by little. But then, Shane realized, she didn't give a shit. 

"Please stay," she managed to grind out, eyes slowly opening. The red was there in specks. Her entire face was still rather swollen but at least her eye color was seen. 

"You'd have to kill me to get me to leave," Jack uttered. Shane would've laughed if she could. 

No matter whether it was coma, death, or Indoctrination, she was okay. She would be okay so long as Jack, real or not, was there. Because sometimes, that's all you need. But she hoped it was real. But what was reality anyways? 


End file.
